


A Place to Belong

by TwoCrows



Series: After the Storm [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Post-Canon, Self-Hatred, War, identity crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 02:19:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17438042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoCrows/pseuds/TwoCrows
Summary: The overwhelming voice in his head was gone. The presence of the others was gone. He was left alone and empty in the deafening silence after the storm.





	A Place to Belong

His mind floated somewhere in the darkness. 

What was this? 

What was he doing here? 

And who was he? 

A memory rose up inside him. A memory of power and destruction and fear. He was causing destruction and enjoying the fear in the eyes of those who looked at him. 

He was Zarc. 

But… All of them had become Zarc. 

Who had he been before that? 

More memories came to him. Memories of the professor, sitting defeated on his throne. There had been a weird man with a hat, trying to fight him. He had been talking about joy and smiling. 

Had those words been directed at him?  
He remembered smiling and also feeling joy, but it somehow felt sick and twisted. He remembered a boy with a malicious grin on his face. 

Yuri

Was that him? Was he Yuri? 

This name felt familiar.  
But there was something missing. 

_Starve Venom? Where are you?_

Why couldn’t he hear his voice anymore? Where was he anyway? 

Was this death? Was he dead? 

He tried to calm his thoughts and listen. Suddenly he noticed a quiet pulse running through him. That was his heart, he remembered.  
So he wasn’t dead. 

But if he wasn’t dead, then where was he?  
Yuri found out he had eyes by opening them.  
At first he couldn’t see anything, but after a while shapes and contours began to form above him.  
He was receiving sensations from his other organs as well.  
His back was telling him he was lying on a hard surface, maybe stone or concrete. His ears were telling him that it was mostly quiet, but there was a low, buzzing sound, somewhere in the distance.  
He tried to move and, after a moment, his body responded. Slowly he sat up, carefully testing if all of his limbs were there and working, before he looked around.  
He was in some kind of hall with a high ceiling and pillars on each side. It was lit dimly, the only shimmer coming through small windows in the upper half of the brick-built walls.  
He… He recognised this hall. He had been here a few times as he strode through academia.  
Academia?  
Right. He could recall more of his memories now. The endless boring classes. The professor giving orders to the soldiers who were lined up in front of him, about to march into war for him. His own mission to find the girls the professor needed.  
He wondered what had become of them. Before, he had been too focused on his counterparts to notice.  
His counterparts…  
Where were they? Since he was alive, they should be alive as well.  
That meant he had the chance to defeat them and they could once again become one, he thought with a rush of excitement, but it waned almost immediately.  
They had become one. And what did it avail them? They had once again been stopped, humiliated.  
Yuri swayed suddenly as he grasped the full momentum of what had happened. For all his life he had sought nothing but strength. He had followed the professor because he could challenge and defeat the strongest people in the worlds. And with Yuya’s victory and Zarc’s revival, his wish had been fulfilled. They had been strongest. They had been god. And yet…  
They lost.  
They had been strongest and they still lost.  
Yuri slumped back to the ground, suddenly feeling a terrible emptiness inside. He searched for something, a memory or an idea, that told him what to do now, but there was… nothing. 

Who… Who was he? 

He had been Yuri.  
He had been Zarc.  
But who was he now? 

That which was lying behind him, his quest for strength, was over. And in front of him there was nothing.  
_Future_  
He had never really thought about that word. If he didn’t have a future, did that mean he was nobody? 

Nobody 

He was nobody and nobody was he. 

For some reason his hand curled around his arm, fingers digging into the skin. 

Why did he feel so lonely all of a sudden?  
He needed somebody – anybody – who could tell him what to do. Who could tell him who he was. 

_Professor…  
Starve Venom…  
None of you is here.  
Isn’t there anybody else who had been there for me? _

He tried to remember, but every other face he could conjure up was filled with fear or hatred. 

He was alone. 

No longer able to endure this feeling, Yuri curled up and rocked back and forth, not minding how this may have looked to others, tears rolling over his cheeks, until his mind drowned in the salty lake inside him. 

* * *

“Why did you come here?”  
The boy froze on the spot, his crimson eyes shining with surprise.  
“Yuri?” he asked tentatively.  
Yuri didn’t bother to look at him, just sitting on the piece of rubble that was the centre of his solitary little world, hugging his legs to him, his head buried in his knees.  
He didn’t want to talk to that boy. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone?  
“Yuri, I – no – _we_ need to talk to you. About what is supposed to happen from now on.”  
“And what do you think talking is going to lead to?” Yuri asked hollow.  
The other boy seemed unsettled for a moment, fumbling for the right words.  
“I cannot imagine how you’re feeling right now”, he said. “Actually I don’t know anything about how you grew up and how you became the person you are now.”  
He made an awkward step towards Yuri.  
“But we have been one. And seeing you like this makes me feel terrible as well.”  
Yuri raised his head and gazed at Yuya who approached him steadily. The sympathy in his warm, red eyes made something ache inside him.  
“My dad once told me, when I was feeling down and depressed, to start smiling, because it would give me the strength to go on. A smile cannot change the world, but it can change the people who live in it.”  
As if to underline his words, a friendly smile crept over his face and he offered him his hand. At first Yuri only stared at him. Then he began to move, reaching out his own hand until they almost touched, before smacking Yuya’s hand away. He quickly jumped to his feet, giving Yuya an angry glare.  
“I am not like you”, he hissed. “So don’t force your stupid beliefs on me!”  
To his surprise he noticed a little tear in his eye, slowly running down his cheek. Angrily he wiped it away and turned his back to Yuya who had actually backed away from him.  
“We are too different, Yuya, so leave me alone.”  
“I am not. I am not leaving before I convince you.”  
Vexed, Yuri whirled around.  
“Do you even know what you’re saying? Did you forget that I am the reason for all this chaos?”  
“No, I didn’t. And that is exactly the reason why I want you to come with me.”  
Yuri blinked at him.  
“Yuto, Yugo, Yuzu, Ruri, Rin, Serena and I, we all have agreed to find a way to prevent Zarc from resurrecting again. We want to create a future free from his shadow. But… Without you that won’t work. So?”  
Yuri cast down his eyes. He was certain Yuya did mean well, but…  
“Future? I don’t have a future. Find your solution without me. I’m not going to hinder you.”  
After a moment of silence Yuya sighed disappointed. “Why are you like this, Yuri? Why do you shut out everyone who tries to help you?”  
A little smirk curved Yuri’s lips. “You said yourself that you don’t know anything about me. Why should I bother to explain myself to you?”  
“But I want to know about you, Yuri!” Yuya shouted. “I want to understand you and I believe the others want to as well! Why can’t you just open up to us a little?”  
Yuri considered his words for a while.  
“You want to know about me?” he asked. “Why? I am just a cruel murderer. Why do you want to understand someone like me?”  
“That isn’t true! You are no murderer, Yuri. Beneath that mask of yours I have seen something that felt… gentle and warm. So I don’t think you’re a bad person after all. So please, come join us.”  
This feeling inside him… Was this… surprise? For the first time Yuri really looked at Yuya’s face which looked so similar to his own, at the honest fire, burning in his crimson eyes. He… He really did believe what he was saying there, didn’t he?  
Yuri was so confused. Why did this boy see something in him that he hadn’t been able to see for… his entire life it seemed.  
Uncomfortably he scratched his cheek and looked away, before putting out his hand.  
“I’m still not convinced”, he mumbled.  
Then he felt Yuya taking his hand and saw the bright smile on his face. It was warm. So… terribly warm.  
“Thank you, Yuri. Alright, then let’s go!”  
“Hey, Yuya…!” Yuri tried to protest, but Yuya had already pressed a button on his duel disk.  
One moment later the hall was empty. 

* * *

When Yuri opened his eyes, he found himself in a bright, spacious room with a high ceiling. One of the four walls was made entirely of glass and Yuri could make out the sparkling blue of the ocean in the distance. They were in some kind of skyscraper, it appeared.  
In the centre there was a round table with eight seats. Three of them were already occupied.  
Yuri saw the calm face of Yuto, his hands folded in front of his mouth, the insecure face of Ruri beside him and the stoic face of Serena who sat across them.  
“You’re back”, Ruri greeted Yuya as he walked to the table.  
He was about to make a reply, when a loud smack from behind made him turn.  
“Ouch! Why did you…?”  
“You’re not at home, Yugo, so try to behave!” a girl’s voice scolded.  
Yuri turned around and saw Rin standing in front of Yugo, her arms akimbo.  
“Hey, hey, Rin…” Yuzu muttered awkwardly and tugged at her shoulder.  
“But these biscuits are yummy”, Yugo replied. “It would be a waste not to eat them.”  
“You already had enough. Besides, Yuya is back, so we’re going to start.”  
“Yuya’s…”  
Slowly, Yugo straightened and turned around, finally gazing at Yuri. His eyes grew hard at once.  
“Right”, he muttered and without another look at Rin he walked to the table. The two girls exchanged a glance and followed him.  
“What are you waiting for?” Yuri heard Yuya ask.  
“What?”  
He suddenly realised that aside from him everyone was sitting already. When he reached for the empty seat in front of him, something made him hesitate.  
What was this? Maybe irritation that he was able to be at one place with all these people without being overtaken by madness? No. Now that he thought about it, this was actually the first time that he really was with other people. Not as an unwanted child. Not as an officer with his subordinates. But as himself with other people who were like him. At least in some way.  
He didn’t know if he liked this, but he had decided to trust Yuya, so he swallowed down his doubts and sat down.  
When he looked up, he felt the sinister glances of Yuto and Yugo piercing him and the girls also didn’t look at him very friendly. He couldn’t blame them after all the suffering he had caused.  
“Then let’s begin”, Yuya said and looked around him. “We are here to decide what we are going to do to prevent Zarc’s resurrection.”  
“May I ask you a question first, Yuya?” Ruri asked quietly. “Why are we trying to make this decision on our own? Wouldn’t it be helpful to include adults in this?”  
Yuya nodded. “Yes, it would be. But I’m afraid that, if we did, we would end up submitting to their resolutions.”  
He stopped for a moment and lowered his gaze. When he continued, his voice was slow and filled with regret.  
“The destruction that Zarc caused… The many people he killed… I can’t say how much it hurts me to know that I was the one who did this. And that’s why I feel that it has to be just the eight of us who make this decision.  
Yuri stared at him in surprise.  
Yuya…  
Yuya felt responsible as well? No, not only that but his words even mirrored what was going on inside Yuri.  
Why? Why did he think this way?  
“I think Yuya is right”, Yugo said into the quiet. “The adults have created this mess in the first place. And what did they do to solve it?”  
“Even if that’s true”, Serena began. “There are a lot of people out there who suffered because of Zarc. No matter what solution we find, there will always be someone who doesn’t agree with it. How are we going to convince them?”  
“That won’t be possible.”  
All eyes turned to Yuto.  
“Maybe we can convince the people who are close to us, but the rest will likely reject our decision. They will demand that the four of us…” He glanced at Yugo, Yuya and Yuri. “…are locked away, so Zarc can never come back.” He narrowed his eyes. “And that is not what I had in mind to do for the rest of my life.”  
“Then it would be best to pretend this threat doesn’t even exist anymore”, Yuzu said.  
Her blue eyes looked uncomfortable. “Although I don’t like the thought of lying to everybody, we have to do it and hope we’ll succeed.”  
“I’m afraid that’s what we’ll have to do”, Yuya agreed.  
The others nodded.  
“Now that this is done, how are we going to stop Zarc?” Yuto asked. “The four bracelets Ray left aren’t here anymore.”  
He glanced at Ruri’s bare wrist beside him.  
“And I guess we can’t simply avoid conflict forever. Zarc’s soul is still inside of us and it’s going to become stronger like it has before.”  
The others looked down at the table or at their hands, not wanting to face each other.  
“Yuya?” Ruri asked after a while. “You already have an idea, do you?”  
Yuya nodded slowly.  
“I don’t know if it is going to work, but…”  
“Just tell us, Yuya”, Yuzu urged him.  
Yuya drew in a deep breath. “Okay. I have been thinking about this for a while. The strategy that Leo Akaba chose was to unify the dimensions through conquest.”  
“And we all know how well this has worked”, Yugo snorted.  
“Yes. Hatred has drifted the four worlds even further apart. That’s why I want to try the opposite way. I want us to become… a family.”  
Everyone stared at Yuya in disbelief.  
“But Yuya”, Yuzu began. “What about your parents? What about my father? We already have a family.”  
“Yes, I know that. Mom and Dad… They will always be special to me. But… The truth is that they are not my real parents. Yugo, Yuri, Yuto… All of us are parts of the same person. We are bound together by fate. And I think it’s the same for you.”  
Yuzu looked down at her hand, seemingly not sure what to think.  
“I… guess this could work”, Rin began, but she stopped when she heard a chair hitting the ground.  
Yuri’s hands were shaking and he backed away from the table, away from them. His vision blurred and he tried to blink away the tears that had started to fill his eyes.  
“A family?” he muttered, his voice pitched higher than it was meant to. “Don’t be ridiculous! As if I could become part of your family after all that has happened!”  
He could feel their gazes resting on him, could sense Yuya was about to say something to calm him down.  
“I can see how you all look at me. Yuto, Yugo… you look like you want nothing more than to kill me. How is this going to be a family?!”  
“Yuri, wait!” Yuya said. “I’m sure we can settle this.”  
“No, Yuya, he is right”, Yugo said in a sinister tone. “I’m not going to forgive him what he did to Rin. I can’t become a family with him.”  
“But…”  
“I agree with Yugo.”  
Yuto rose to his feet and gave Yuri a resentful glare. “He is the reason why all of this started in the first place.”  
Every word from their mouths was a stab in Yuri’s heart, but it felt relieving as well. He was guilty for hurting them. Until now he hadn’t even known how much he had longed for someone who acknowledged his guilt. Who acknowledged the fact that he had destroyed the lives of hundreds, of thousands maybe. He wanted to pay up for the suffering he had caused.  
“Stop this!” Yuya shouted and stepped between them, his arms raised in a gesture to defend Yuri.  
“He isn’t the same person he was. He does regret what he did. Probably more than anyone else. So, I beg you to give him a chance!”  
Yuri hesitated. “Why did Yuya defend him? He had never done anything good for anybody. There had never been anyone who did something good for him. His power had made him feared by everyone. And over time their fear grew into hatred. The other people in this room were no different. So why was he? Why was Yuya able to believe in him?  
“I’m still not going to… Ouch! What was this for, Rin?”  
“Stop being so selfish!” Rin said and poked her finger against Yugo’s chest. “This is the fate of the world we’re discussing right now!”  
“Yuto…”  
“Yes, I know, Ruri. I am going to go along with Yuya’s idea.”  
Ruri sighed relieved. Only Yugo still seemed reluctant.  
“Okay”, he grunted.  
“Then that’s settled”, Yuzu said. “From now on we are a family.”  
Yuri blinked at them. He knew almost nothing about these people. And now they were going to be a family?  
_Family_  
Yuri never had had anything like that. So what was this feeling inside him?  
Was this… joy?

* * *

“What do you think about this?” Yusho asked, looking down from the screen.  
Reiji was as unreadable as always, his hands folded in front of him. The purple eyes behind the glasses looked thoughtfully at the scene on the screen.  
“I am not convinced”, he said after a while. “But I have decided to trust Yuya.”  
Yusho smiled proudly and his gaze wandered to Reira who was standing next to her brother, the small teddy bear hanging from her hand.  
Had Yuya ever had something like that? He couldn’t remember. 

* * *

“It certainly is big!”  
“Yes, I know, mom”, Yuya said annoyed.  
Yuri had observed his mother for the entire drive. She seemed to be a woman who was easily thrilled about almost everything. He didn’t know whether he should feel glad or sorry for Yuya, so he had decided to remain silent.  
“When I asked Reiji for help, I didn’t expect him to actually build a house for us”, Yuya said as they began to unload the boxes from the car. “To be honest, I’m still not sure what is going on in his head.”  
“He trusts you”, his mother replied. “Just like your father and I do.”  
Yuya stopped and his mother placed a hand on his shoulder.  
“But… Promise me you’ll take care of yourself”, the woman said and Yuri saw tears welling in her eyes.  
“Mom…”  
She fell on her knees and clasped her son to her.  
“Just promise me, okay?”  
Something inside Yuri convulsed.  
The way she embraced Yuya… The gentle, but also tight grip of her fingers around his back… The tears that she shed for him… The worry…  
Yuri couldn’t take it anymore. He randomly grabbed a box from the pile and carried it towards the house, pretending not to pay attention to the sobs of the woman or Yuya’s awkward attempts to soothe her.  
For as long as he could remember, nobody had ever hugged him like that. Nobody had ever looked at him with anything but fear or hatred.  
Why?  
They looked so similar, and yet… Why couldn’t he have been the one? Yuya… Yuto and even Yugo… They all had someone who cared about them. Why couldn’t he have someone like that? Someone who’d smile at him and tell him that they were proud of him. Someone who’d wake him in the morning and wish him a nice day.  
Why?  
Why had he been alone?  
Suddenly he felt dizzy and had to lean against the wall, slowly slumping down to the floor, flickering lights dancing before his eyes. He ran his fingers over the kinks where he had almost crushed the box and waited until he could breathe normally again.  
He leaned back his head and gazed at the still naked wall in front of him.  
What was wrong with him? He had never had a fit like this, so why now?  
“Yuri? Is everything alright with you?”  
After a moment he turned towards the girl in the hallway.  
“Yes, it’s nothing”, he replied half-heartedly and pushed himself to his feet. He had to support himself against the wall, but he managed to stand.  
Yuzu still gave him a doubtful look, before she sighed and helped him to pick up the box. Normally he would’ve told her to leave him alone, but right now he wasn’t sure if he could’ve carried the box on his own.  
“Thank you for helping with our move, Yuri”, she said when they put it down in what was supposed to become Yuya’s room.  
Yuri didn’t answer and went to get the next box. Yuzu followed him.  
“And when are you going to get your stuff here?” she asked.  
He stopped so abruptly that she ran into him.  
“Hey! What…?”  
Yuri lowered his head so that she wasn’t able to see his eyes.  
“I am from academia”, he said slowly. “I don’t have anything I could get here. All I possess is myself.”  
He half turned to her. She was staring at him with wide eyes. Of course she couldn’t have known, but that didn’t allay the pain.  
Without another word he went outside to get the other boxes. 

* * *

With a gasp Yuri sat up straight in his bed. His lungs were ready to burst and his entire body was covered in cold sweat. Confused, his gaze wandered through the calm, dark room in search of something that wasn’t there.  
It was just a dream.  
Yuri stared at his hand until he managed to stop it from shaking.  
It had felt so real.  
The distant heat of the fire, brushing over his skin… The choking smell of smoke and dust… The terrible sound of bursting concrete and tearing steel, followed by tons of rubble raining down on the streets as another building collapsed… 

Yuri ran out of an alley and found himself on a large junction. He didn’t know where he was, but the atmosphere of terror was enough for him. A group of people scurried by and he was about to follow them, when he was briefly blinded by a violet flash. The next moment the people were gone. Something small fell to the ground in their stead.  
Yuri knelt down and picket up one of the cards. It depicted a young girl holding a torn-up teddy bear. Her mouth was opened in a silent scream and her eyes had a terrified look.  
He suddenly found himself unable to move. He could neither get up nor take his eyes from the young face in the card.  
Gone. Forever.  
How many had suffered the same fate she did? How many had suffered it at his own hands?  
A loud roar made him turn around. He saw the burning skeleton of the LDS tower in the distance. In front of it appeared a monstrous figure, shoving its long neck through the gap between buildings.  
“Starve Venom?” he muttered and rose. “Is that you?”  
The dragon turned its head and its green eyes fixated him. Yuri made a step forward. From the corner of his eyes he noticed a boy who was cowering behind a piece of rubble. The boy hesitated for a moment, then he decided to use the distraction and bolted for the cover of a nearby alley.  
Starve Venom had seen him too. There was a flash and then the ground exploded under his feet. The boy was swept from his feet, crashed against a wall and didn’t move anymore.  
“What are you doing here, Venom?!” Yuri screamed. “Stop this!”  
The dragon ignored him and continued to raze another building to the ground.  
Yuri was running now, following the dragon through its tail of havoc. Thick clouds of smoke blocked his view and he stumbled over uneven debris. Scattered across it were more of the small cards, but Yuri didn’t dare to look at them.  
Suddenly he escaped the smoke and he could see Venom’s silhouette for a moment. Then the whole street went up in flames.  
“Stop this, Venom!” he shouted. “You and me, we are one and the same, so listen to me!”  
He was so close. His hand was merely feet away from touching him. But Venom’s tail whipped and sent him flying, the ground knocking the wind out of him.  
Through the blur he saw Venom’s serpentine body turn around to him, its burning eyes staring down at him like a mere fly.  
So this was fear. He had never felt anything akin to it before.  
“What’s this, Venom?” he whispered. “Are you so hungry for destruction that you’d even turn against me?”  
“It’s useless. He doesn’t listen to you anymore.”  
Yuri raised his head and looked around. He shivered when he met a pair of violet eyes, their pupils mere slits, malevolent and evil.  
“Who-Who are you?”  
The boy smiled and his purple hair wafted a little as he waved with the pile of cards in his hands. All of them showed a painful or terrified face.  
“He and I… we are one. Just like you were. But that is over. Now…” He narrowed his voice. “…you are nothing. Come, Venom. End his misery.”  
Yuri looked up at his old friend. Starve Venom opened its mouth and the last thing he felt was the overwhelming blast that dissolved his body. 

Yuri’s eyes wandered to the case that rested on the small table next to his bed. He reached out for it and placed his hands around it. It felt calm and quiet, nothing like the turmoil of emotions that was raging on inside him.  
He inhaled deeply before he put it back and turned around, although he wasn’t able to find any more sleep until the light of morning seeped into his room. 

* * *

The fragrant smell of steamed vegetables and fried octopus tickled Yuri’s nose as he set the table. He was paying much attention to do it properly. Not that he really cared about it, but he wanted to have an excuse so he didn’t have to talk to the others.  
In the three weeks that they had been living together he had tried to keep his distance, which wasn’t hard as the others had tried to avoid him as well. More than once he had noticed them leaving the room shortly after he entered.  
“Guys! It’s ready!” Yuzu’s voice shouted from the kitchen. She and Rin began to carry the bowls to the table.  
Suddenly Yugo’s head popped into the room.  
“Wow! This smells yummy!” he said dreamily.  
The others appeared behind him and they all sat down around the table.  
“This is really good”, Yuya said after he had taken a few bites. “You are really good at this, Yuzu.”  
Yuri poked some of the octopus with his chopsticks.  
“Actually I was just helping. Rin did most of the cooking.”  
Yuya smiled and turned to Rin. “Then thank you as well. This is delicious.”  
Rin blushed and mumbled something.  
“You’re the best, Rin!” Yugo said between bites, although Yuri found it hard to call what he did eating.  
They were very good at pretending, he thought. Pretending to know each other. Pretending to be a family. They were pretending so they could forget that the only reason that had brought them together was fear. Fear of what had happened and what might happen again in the future.  
He suddenly remembered the look of those piercing, violet eyes.  
Yes. They were just running away.  
“What about you, Yuri?” Yuzu asked and nudged him out of his thoughts.  
“What?”  
He noticed everyone was looking at him.  
“Do you like it as well?” Yuzu repeated.  
Yuri realised there was a decision to be made. “Actually it’s rather stale for my taste”, he said.  
Yugo slammed his glass on the table and everyone fell silent.  
“Take that back!” he snapped. “Do you know how much effort Rin has put into this?”  
Yuri smiled. “I was just asked for my opinion.”  
“Stop being like this, you… You should be grateful that we’re giving you another chance, so at least try to act like you care about us!”  
“Care…” Yuri echoed thoughtfully. “What do you mean by that?”  
“Huh?” Yugo snarled. “Don’t act dumb. To care means showing respect and being willing to do everything for each other. Like when I came to academia to save Rin.”  
Yuri glanced at the reflexion in his glass.  
“Do everything…” he muttered.  
Then he looked into Yugo’s blue eyes.  
“When she was controlled by the doctor, did you care for her?”  
Incomprehension crept over Yugo’s face and Yuri couldn’t suppress a smile.  
“We are more similar than you think”, he continued. “I don’t remember you doing everything to save her. You preferred to engage in a fight with me.”  
Yugo jumped to his feet and would have flung himself at Yuri if Yuto and Ruri hadn’t sat between them.  
“Bastard”, he hissed through clenched teeth. “Take that back or I swear I’ll make you regret saying it.”  
“Why?” Yuri asked flippantly. “Can’t you endure hearing the truth?”  
“That’s enough!” Yuzu said in a definite tone.  
“If the two of you have a problem, then settle it somewhere else.”  
Yugo made a grimace but sat down after a moment.  
Yuri got up in his stead.  
“Fine. I have no intention to stress your company any longer.”  
As he went to the door, he could feel everyone’s gaze resting on him. Surprise, dislike, anger. That were the feelings they harboured for him.  
“Yuri, wait!” Yuya began, but Yuri didn’t stop to listen. 

* * *

Yuri was sitting on the rooftop, looking across the city. It was an admonishing sight. The thousands of lights that shone in the night told of the thousands of people who were living here.  
Yuri blinked and for a moment the lights were gone. The city was grey and ashen, the buildings crumbled and shrouded in clouds of smoke and dust.  
Was that his fate? Was he doomed to turn this city into that ravaged vision from his dream? A dull and empty city, its inhabitants sealed away, the cards scattered among the ruins, forever witness of its destruction.  
He could hear the streams ringing throughout the streets. Screams of fright, of terror. Desperate pleas for mercy. But they wouldn’t receive any. Do not relent. Do not hesitate. That had been the unwritten rules of academia.  
Although Yuri wouldn’t have needed them. He had never relented nor hesitated. In fact, he could still feel the excitement running through him when he imagined searching out his prey, chasing it down and finishing it off. He had been a born predator after all.  
He gazed down at his hand.  
So many… So many had been carded by him.  
He wondered…  
When he was going to die one day, would they be waiting for him, to finally exact their revenge?  
Something clicked behind him. Yuri didn’t turn around.  
The girl balanced over the shingles until she stood next to him.  
“What are you doing here?” he asked sharper than he had meant to be.  
“I could ask you the same question”, Serena replied and sat down, looking in the opposite direction Yuri did.  
For a long while none of them said a word.  
Yuri cast down his eyes and looked at the dark yard below.  
_So dark…_  
Sometimes he sensed someone standing there, in the shadows where he couldn’t see them, watching him with hateful eyes.  
“They are beautiful, aren’t they?”  
Surprised, Yuri turned around.  
“The stars”, Serena said.  
He raised his head and for the first time he noticed the faint twinkling above. They… did look beautiful.  
“Why did you do that?” she asked.  
Yuri had been waiting for this question.  
“It’s alright if they hate me. They really should, after what I’ve done to them.”  
Serena waited a moment.  
“So you want to hurt yourself?”  
The red flashing of an airplane floated across the sky and Yuri followed it with his eyes.  
“You couldn’t understand this. I have lost everything I believed in.” He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice, but that was only a partial success.  
Serena shifted next to him and hugged her legs. The cold night-wind blew away the clouds and revealed the full moon that had been hidden behind them. Serena’s hair shimmered smoothly as the pure moonlight got caught in it.  
“You know”, she began distantly. “When I still was at academia, I always wanted to join my comrades on the battlefield. I used to believe the professor held me back because he didn’t trust my skills. That’s why I wanted to prove myself so desperately.”  
She drew in a long breath and let it out again with a sigh.  
“Then Yuzu told me the truth about the invasion and the suffering we had caused. At first I refused to believe her, but then I talked to Shun and heard everything from his point of view. At that moment I also lost everything I believed in.”  
She turned towards him and one of her bangs slid over her shoulder. She put on an insecure smile.  
“But during the war I learned to form an opinion of my own rather than depending on what the professor had told me.”  
He could see it, the thought forming in her head. She believed they were alike. But…  
“I am not like you”, he replied hollow. “I didn’t care about the professor or his ideals. I didn’t care about anyone. Even as a child I was stronger than anyone else, so they began to fear me. I noticed that and grew afraid of it as well. Then the professor told me about my role in his plans and I realised my strength was nothing to be afraid of – it was a gift.”  
He clenched his hand so hard that his knuckles whitened.  
“I’ve hurt hundreds, Serena. I’ve hurt hundreds and I enjoyed it. I can see their scared faces before me.”  
“But that is over. You are not the same person you were.”  
“Oh really?”  
He felt for a place deep inside him, a place he had denied to even acknowledge existed. It was still there, waiting for him. All he had to do was reach out his hand and the malice flooded back into him.  
He turned to her, an eerie smile on his lips, his pupils narrowed to slits.  
This was a quite familiar sight, he thought. Her life was in his hand. It would be so easy to break her. He could see in her eyes that she knew, see the flicker of fear when she understood he was going to do it.  
_Yes… So easy… So close…_  
Then he let go and returned to the person he was now, the broken boy who had fled to the rooftop.  
“Right now I can keep myself under control. But I am a part of Zarc. Eventually I will become my old self again. I will enjoy hurting and killing people. There is no way for me to escape this fate.”  
Serena’s breath calmed down as she recovered from the shock he gave her. Yuri could almost hear the racing beat of her heart. She drew in a deep breath.  
“You are frightened by who you are”, she muttered. “But why do you try to bear this on your own?”  
He couldn’t help but laugh, although it was not a mirthful one.  
“I am alone. I’ve always been alone and I’m always going to. Because that is what I deserve.”  
He glanced down at his hands, tried to imagine how many lives he had ruined with just a twitch of his finger.  
“It appears you are unlucky then”, Serena said coldly. Her piercing eyes sparkled with conviction. “Because I’m not going to let you be alone.”  
Her hair wafted slightly in the breeze.  
“Why do you even want to do this for me?”  
Serena blushed and quickly looked away.  
“Because… Because I… I…”  
She closed her eyes and shook her head.  
“When I was chased by academia, I had friends who risked their lives fighting alongside me. Everyone deserves to have a friend. And that’s why… I want to be yours.”  
Yuri let his gaze wander over the rooftops and lights of the city to the distant sparkle of moonlight on the ocean, a fragile shimmer amidst the blackness.  
“A friend”, he echoed.  
He couldn’t remember a time when he had wanted any friends. As the professor’s enforcer he was feared by his enemies and respected by his allies and he enjoyed it. As academia student he found pleasure in demonstrating his superior skills. He hadn’t needed any friends, only victims.  
A faint sensation stirred in the remotest corner of his head. At first it was only a blur, but as he focused on it, the memory became sharper.  
_He saw a young, purple-haired boy sitting on a bench – alone. His legs are too short to reach the ground, so he swings them loosely. Suddenly he hears voices and turns towards them.  
A group of other children comes into view, kicking around a ball. The boy watches them for a while with conflicting emotions. Eventually he seems to make a decision and hops to his feet, slowly approaching the group.  
When they notice him, they stop abruptly. The ball rolls towards him and stops at his feet. He bends down and picks it up.  
He can hear them whisper. Whisper about him.  
“Umm”, he begins. “Can I maybe…?”  
The closest child backs away and he stops.  
He glances at the ball in his hands. “Can I join in?”  
A girl squeals and he sees her face turn white.  
“Play… with him?”  
She shakes her head and starts to run. “I’m sorry!” she shouts before disappearing around a corner.  
The boy looks at the next child who starts to run as well, followed by the rest of the group.  
“Wait!” the boy shouts. “I just wanted…”  
He falls quiet as nobody is left to listen to him.  
“I just wanted… anyone”, Yuri whispers. _  
He opened his eyes and looked at Serena.  
“Alright”, he said. “If you really want, then we can be friends from now on.”  
After a moment, a smile appeared on Serena’s face.  
“Thank you”, she muttered. “For giving me this chance.”  
Then she reached for his hand and got up. Yuri had to fight the urge to pull away, but then he managed to relax and stand up as well.  
“How about we go back inside now?” Serena asked and balanced over to the rooflight.  
Yuri sent a last glance at the sky before he followed her.  
He still didn’t know who he was. Was he Yuri, academia student and feared enforcer of the professor? Was he Yuri, a part of Zarc, the demon who nearly destroyed the worlds? Or was he Yuri who just became Serena’s friend?  
He didn’t know. But he was thrilled to find out. 

And the stars did look beautiful. 


End file.
